Great article Mike! I'm all too familiar with the emotional roller coaster of startup life. I've often found myself struggling with the combined burden of building a business from scratch, taking care of my team, being a good steward of my investor's capital, and raising a young family. We’ve never met, but I saw your FB post via a mutual friend last year and I can’t tell you how much it meant to me. It’s so refreshing to see someone in the industry who really understands what it’s like to be a founding CEO and cares enough to take time to talk. Sometimes, just knowing that there are decent people out there is enough to keep an entrepreneur going when things get tough.

3:25 pm July 2, 2014

Steve Newman wrote:

My company supports nearly 20 FTEs. To comment on the thanklessness is a bit of a waste of time but it feels like getting something of the chest. We do it for growth and development. Our rewards are personal and include: more grey hair, more stress, more responsibilities. I know at some point in the growth stage, less responsibility should come into play during the day-to-day but I feel a strong sense of responsibility for embracing and protecting every employee under our umbrella.

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